COUNTERFEIT RESEMBLANCE OF TWO BROTHERS. 153 



ever in this case. There sat our friend Powell as cool 

 and erect as one of the Life Guards we see in Parlia- 

 ment Street, his mare as fast held, and his hands in 

 the same place they were when galloping over the 

 l^receding meadow. Up he had her, and off before 

 the next horse took the leap. So much for seat. To 

 have this in perfection, and the strongest nerve, are 

 certainly both indispensable if a man means to ride 

 steeple- races, or indeed to hounds, and to ride well. 



This reminds me of what Tom Belcher once said to 

 a sixteen-stone friend of mine, who thought himself 

 pretty much of a man, and wanted to study sparring. 

 Tom looked at him: "Well," said he, "you're big 

 enough, if you're good enough ; but before you learn 

 sparring, let me ask you one question — Can you bear 

 licking ? — for I don't care how good you may be, you 

 will be sure to find some customer to make you nap 

 it, though you may lick him." 



So, if a man is afraid of a fall, he has no busi- 

 ness hunting, much less steeple-racing. Still seat 

 and nerve alone will not do. If they were the ne jjIus 

 ultra of a rider, Mr. W. M'Donough would ride better 

 than his brother ; for of the two, I should say he was 

 the boldest, or, in alluding to him, I should say the 

 most desperate rider. Why then cannot he ride as 

 well as the other ? Why I do not say : but he can- 

 not, and, what is more, never will ; and I have no 

 doubt he is aware of it, giving him at the same time 

 every credit for being a very superior horseman. A. 

 M'Donough possesses certain qualifications that must 

 always make him " deserve, when he cannot command, 

 success" — great courage, a quick eye to his own and 

 other horses, a good judge of pace, great patience 

 (a rare quality in a young one), never takes more out 



